14 March 2012

Yayoi Kusama x Louis Vuitton = Infinity Dots

After Takashi Murakami the next artist to collaborate with the french label Louis Vuitton is the also japanese Yayoi Kusama. Louis Vuitton has always supported contemporary art either by sponsoring exhibitions or launching special collections in association with artists.
This last collaboration -including leather goods, clothing, footwear and accessories- with Yayoi Kusama, whose retrospective (sponsored by the French label) is currently in Tate Modern (9 February-5 June 2012) is going to be launched in July. Alongside the retrospective another collaboration between the two of them, this time on artworks, is showcased in Bond Street, in Louis Vuitton Maison's exhibition space.
Yayoi Kusama is often acclaimed to be a Pop artist, but she is for sure a lot more than that. Born in 1929, she moved in New York in 1957 and by 1959 she had presented five of her "Infinity Nets", large white canvases covered with light net motives, which garnered comparisons to the Abstract Expressionism movement. In 1961 she went on to develop the "Accumulations", household items covered with white small sacks.

Accumulation No 2, 1968

It was Donald Judd that first noticed her work was all about an obsession with repetition in 1964. This repetition though was that linked her work with the pattern of the phallic symbol. The "Aggregation: One Thousand Boats" installation was crucial, as it incorporated the element of camouflage leading her to her most recognizable pattern: the Dots. The result of this was her most known work, the "Infinity Mirror Room-Phalli's Field".

Infinity Mirror Room- Phalli's Field, 1965

The use of the dots motif derives from a psychedelic culture, which also led her to check herself into a mental hospital back in Japan in the 1970s, where she stays until today. Hence it's sad that the only thing that comes in mind when hearing her name is "Dots"and not all this avant-garde background that has highlighted her as one of the most prominent female artists of the postmodernism.
Not to mention that one of her "Infinity Nets", sold by Christie's New York for $5.1 million, hit a record for a female artist back in 2008. Imagine now the success the colourful dotted garments will have in combination with the french luxury brand.
Unfortunately, there are no images of the collection yet, but until that moment, you can visit the special website created for the collaboration and watch interviews of both sides, as well as find further information on Kusama and the Tate exhibition.